Nick

Our son Nick is a special guy. He is a special needs child and was diagnosed with "small kidneys," or Chronic Renal Failure, in 2011. From that point on, our journey began.

We had two choices, start Nick on dialysis or let the disease process take its course. Both options seemed unfathomable but, as I said, our son Nick is a special guy. He had a job, friends and lived in a group home, he had a life. We chose life. Nick amazed us daily with his ability to cope with a very difficult life changing process involving his course through the daily dialysis process.

I sat with our son through each dialysis session three days a week, for four hours each day, and watched my son endure. I watched my son dwindle from us as the disease process and dialysis took its toll on his body. It seemed so unfair to me that after everything he had already gone through in his life that now he is having to fight to live.

I had made a decision that if I could I would be a donor for Nick. On April 10, 2012, our mother-son bond became even stronger, and I donated my kidney to Nick. Today we have our old Nick back, with all the laughter, strength and joy that he had before his illness. Donating was the right thing for me to do.